Hi Barrett,

I have been looking at village water project material online (there is a lot), and wanted to share some links with you.

Eric Stowe (video) I find this guy interesting because of the scope of his efforts (he states that by 2012, his organization will have provided microfiltration to every orphanage in China) and because he is interested in information exchange among organizations engaged in water projects, which he says have been territorial and not-sharing in the past. Eric's current project is about clean water more than water supply and it is urban and peri-urban, not village-oriented. His organization's website

akvopedia This aspires to be a central information collection site for water project information. It is very much a work in progress, with many pages "under development;" however, there appear to be ongoing updates, But this may be a useful portal resource, even in its incomplete form. Includes list of organizations.

Edward Breslin This guy gets one demerit for pomposity--he wants to talk about "hydro-philanthropy" rather than saying 'water,' but his interest is in sustainability. Water supply systems all require maintenance: a villager walks past a a well with a broken hand-pump to get water from a ditch, that's a failed gift. He advocates community engagement, which you mention in the message below. He describes  'metrics' for sustainability.. Seems like a good discussion despite the buzzwords. Similar discussion from Guardian.  And another similar discussion "Technology transfer only works when the end-users take ownership."

WaterCredit This outfit addresses sustainability and community engagement by enabling poor communities to build and maintain their own water systems by lending to them.


Clark Robinson
Chicago
217 722-8680


--- On Tue, 4/27/10, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Hey, thanks
To: "Clark Robinson" <robinsonchicago@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 1:16 PM

Ha, I'll consider it. Incidentally, just got an e-mail from a fellow here in Brooklyn who's heavily involved in a couple of youth programs, including one that takes local teenagers to developing nations in order to have them volunteer with rural villages; he's asked me to give a talk to the kids, and I've asked him in turn if he'd be willing to provide us with his insight into what sorts of programs might be most effective in terms of charitable action towards such villages (for instance, what new methods exist by which to provide clean drinking water at a minimum cost, what programs can be put into place in such a way as to employ locals in the process, etc.). Of course, we won't be ready to move on any of this for quite a while, but it will be helpful to get some ideas early on.

On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi, Barrett, Immense thanks for the tutorial last night, I got a much better conception of the project, especially as it will appear to the reader.  I look forward to your further efforts; if you go ahead with a video, you can splice in a few seconds of Johnny Rotten. Clark

--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302